Full fashioned stocking with eng



Oct. 30, 1934. K. R. LIEBERKNE'CHT 1,978,587

FULL FASHIONED STOCKING WITH ENGLISH FOOT AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed Feb. 5, 1932 In venl'or Karl Richard Liebefknechi' By his All'orneys Fig. 1.

Patented Och 30, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FULL FASHIONED STOCKING WITH ENG- ISIJSH FOOT METHOD OF MAKING THE New York Application February 5, 1932, Serial No. 591,176

Germany August 31, 1931 8 Claims. (Cl. 66- -186) My invention relates to stockings having the well-known English foot.

Among the objects of my invention is the production of a stocking having the well-known I 5 English foot in which the instep, instead of being of uniform width throughout, as has been the custom, is progressively widened so that the side seam of the finished foot will be nearer the sole than is now the custom and will not show above a low shoe or slipper.

My invention also includes a method of knitting such a stocking and in particular a method by which such a stocking may be knitted as a unit upon a flat type knitting machine.

Numerous attempts have been made to knit a full fashioned stocking complete on a single flattype knitting machine. One of the main objects has been to eliminate the line which is always present to a greater or less degree overthe instep in stockings made in accordance with the usual method, where the leg fabric is transferred to the footer machine by means of transfer bars.

Since under present methods the legfabric is knitted from one bobbin of yarn while the foot fabric is knitted from another, a difference in fabric construction is usually discernible over the instep because of difierences in dimension and texture of the two yarns.

A stocking made with the English foot overcomes this objection, since the instep fabric is knitted on the same machine and directly after the leg portion has been completed. However, this type of foot has met with considerable unpopularity because it has been customary to make the instep portion of uniform width which places the side seam of the foot comparatively high up.

Today stockings are demanded in which the width of the instep portion varies to conform to the shape of the cut-out of the shoe or slipper v over the instep to insure concealment of the side seam. This requires that, beginning at the heel, the instep shall first be increased in width, then for a short stretch remain of uniform width and finally end at a narrowed reenforced toe portion.

Graduating the width of the instep portion can be done quite simply on a fiat knitting machine arranged for making French-foot stockings, but it is more diflicult to do this on machines for making English foot stockings because the heel portion must be knitted closely adjacent the instep portion.

The present invention, besides relatingto the improved stocking itself, includes a method for knitting a stocking with English foot in which the width of the instep portionadjacent the heel tabs may be varied as desired. Accordingly, English foot stockings manufactured by this new method will compare favorably in appearance with single unit knit French foot stockings. Of special importance is the fact that this new method is simple and does not require any basic changes in the knitting machine.

The widening of the instep portion, according to this invention, is made possible by transferring the wales of the heel tabs outwardly. after each course, or after each several courses. In this manner space is provided on the needles to permit widening of the instep portion.

It also makes possible the knitting of the heel tabs and widened instep portion integrally with each other, in which case the additionally needed width forthe instep is obtained by progressively transferring outwardly the wales of the heel tabs and correspondingly increasing the number of wales of the next course of the instep portion. The holes between the instep portion and heel tabs which result from transferring the heel tab wales outwardly form a natural dividing line between these parts which, after completion of the instep portion, may be cut apart, the loops of the resulting selvage having little tendency to open up and run backward. 1

My invention is illustrated by the drawing, of which Fig. 1 shows the foot portion of a completed stocking having an English foot with a graduated width of instep made in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 shows a portion of a stocking with English foot having a graduated width of instep conforming to my invention and as made by the method of my invention;

Fig. 3 illustrates a portion of a stocking made in accordance with a variation of the method by which the stocking of Fig. 2 was produced in that the instep and heel tabs have been knit integrally and simultaneously.

In a stocking with English foot made in accordance with present practice, after the high heel is completed, the heel tabs, together with'a separate instep portion, are knitted the same width as the leg portion just after the leg narrowing and the width of the instep portion remains uniform up to the toe narrowing. The sole may be knitted on the same machine as the instep portion, or on a separate machine.

This form of instep is. not especially desirable, I

width, then remain of uniform width for a number of courses, and finally decrease in width at the reenforced toe-portion. The shape of sucha stocking is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

According to the present invention the leg portion is knitted as usual to row A-B (Fig. 2) The heel tabs 7 and 8 and instep portion 9 are also begun in the customary manner. However, in order to provide room for the gradually increasing width of instep all the loops or wales of the heeltabs 7 and 8 are progressively transferred outwardly after every course orzevery several courses thereby making needles available so that the instep portion 9 may be correspondingly and concurrently increased in width (as at 10).

This operation continues until the instep portion is of the desired width C--D.' From here on theheel tabs and instep. are knitted of uniform width in the usual manner. The sole portion may be knitted on the same machine or on another machine, its shape being complementary to that of the instep portion 9; that is to say, a narrowed toe portion followed by a portion of uniform width and terminating in a portion of gradually increasing width 11 corresponding with the widening'of the instep portion 9 between lines A-B. and CD.

It is sometimes advantageous to knit the heel tabs 7 and 8 between the lines A-B and 0-D integrally with the instep. To this end the main carrier of the instep portion is also run-through the heel tabs, the reenforcing of the heel tabs being effected by additional carriers. As shown in Fig. 3, the wales of the heel tabs between lines A--B and 0-D are transferred outwardly and the number of the wales of the instep portion correspondingly increased in the next course. From this operation there will result a row of narrowing holes 12 separating the loops in the heel tabs from those of the instep. After the leg is completed the heel tabs and instep portions are out apart along these narrowing holes. The resulting selvages having loops with little tendency to run, no difiiculties are presented when the leg is later seamed or looped to thesole portion.

The sole of the stocking made by this new method should, of course, be knitted to a shape to complement the widened instep, as shown in Fig. 2 and as above described.

What I seek to secure by United States Letters Patent i's:

1. The method of producing a stocking having an English foot which consists of forming the leg portion, progressively widening the instep portion at the end adjacent the leg portion, and concurrently and independently forming the, heel tabs, continuing the widened instep portion to the toe portion, and widening that part of the sole portion which is to be attached to. the widened instep portion. 7

2. The method of producing a stocking having an English foot which consists of progressively widening the instep portion at the end adj'acent the leg portion and concurrently and independently forming the heel tabs to have sides parallel .portion.

3. The method of producing a stocking having an English foot which consists of forming the leg portion, progressively widening the end of the instep portion adjacent the leg, knitting the heel tabs concurrently and integrally with the knitting of the widened instep portion, and widening that part of the sole portion which is to be attached to the widened instep portion.

4. An English foot stocking having an instep portion which is progressively widened at the end adjacent the leg, heel tab portions shaped to conform to said widened instep portion, and a sole progressively widened throughout the part attached to the widened instep portion.

5. An English foot stocking consisting of a leg portion, an instep portion of progressively increasing width at the end adjacent the leg, heel tabs having sides parallel to the contour of the instep portion, and a sole progressively widened throughout the part attached to the widened instep portion.

6. An English foot stocking having an instep portion composed of a series of courses of progressively increasing width adjacent the leg portion followed by a series of courses of uniform width, heel tabs composed of a series of courses of uniform width each of which is transposed outwardly with respect to the preceding course, the

total number of these courses corresponding to the number of courses of the graduated instep. portion, a series of courses of uniform width folthe total number of courses of the graduated instep portion and so positioned that they Join the graduated instep portion.

7. The method of producing stockings with an English foot which consists in knitting the heel tabs and during the knitting thereof transferring which is knit separately from the said heel tabs,

and knitting the instep portion to the increased width made necessary by the manner in which the heel tabs are knitted.

8. The method of producing stockings with an English foot which consists in knitting an increasingly wider instep portion integral with the heel tabs and during the formation of said instep and heel tab portions and after each course of the knitting or after each desired number of courses, transferring all the loops of the heel tabs to further outwardly lying needles of the needle bar, and then, after the completion of the knitting of the stocking, separating the heel tabs from the instep portion by cutting through the holes resulting from the transferring of the loops outwardly.

- KARL RICHARD LIEBERKNECHT. 

